IT HAS BEEN 15 years since the federal government was legally obliged — but failed — to begin accepting waste from the country’s nuclear power plants. It has been four years since President Obama zeroed out funds for a permanent geologic repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev., eliminating hope that the government would live up to its obligation anytime soon. And, according to the Obama administration’s new strategy for dealing with nuclear waste, it will be another 35 years until the government opens a permanent repository at a different site, location as yet unknown. Even if the government meets its new timetable, that adds up to 50 years of delay, a not-in-my-back-yard nightmare that the country is only partway through. [link to www.washingtonpost.com] .